i know what you mean about Laura but i thought she was as good as Sam - TBH - nobody was very charismatic this year - Laura was defo the judges fave

I didn't enjoy the show so much this year. All that tweaking and changing didn't help either.

The best thing was the fun we had in the DOI thread.

I agree - it was a great thread - will really miss it - what's next - BGT ??? oh and the Eurovision song contest

I'm looking forward to BGT.

Eurovision should be a laugh - so long as we don't expect any points.

Off for my bath, signing out for the night. Goodnight Ros.

night yogi - sorry couldn't post for a bit

No worries, Ros.

Good morning everyone.

Youngest son is on a course and had to catch the 7a.m. train, hence my earlybird posting.

Weather is overcast and a bit misty, and I believe rain is on the way. Never mind, at least it isn't snow.

Good morning everyone

Cloudy and may get a bit of rain this morning.

I had a suspicion when I saw Rawky's thread that we would get a change of background theme, and when I saw the words "We're in Spring now" I guessed which theme we would get, and here we are "Spring Flowers". Needless to say there will be those who like it and those who say it is too girly -

I am liking the new theme but there again I AM very girly.

Good morning everyone, dull damp and drizzly (not to mention drear) this morning, so its all the D's. 

I have really enjoyed Silk but its the female lead (is it Maxine Peake?) that I have enjoyed most, she is brilliant.

Thinking of you Joyron . 

I too am a tea-aholic and have just discovered some wonderful new tea bags from M & S so in my shopping this morning I have ordered some ones that should be similar from Twinings, the Breakfast Tea and Assam, see how I get on.  Its a soft water area down here in the South West.  What tea is your particular favourite and is your area hard or soft water?

Hi Squiggle, I have also enjoyed "Silk", and not only because of the lovely Rupert Penry-Jones. Maxine Peake is a really good actress and she has come a long way since her days as Twinkle, in Victoria Wood's "Dinnerladies".

I live in a soft water area and I love my cups of tea. Twinnings Breakfast tea is nice but I'm more of a Typhoo drinker. It has to be strong, with a dash of milk.

I've been PG Tips up to now.  I've never tried Typhoo I've always thought it might be a bit strong for me, but I might try a small pack now I'm in an experimental mood

Good morning everyone.    It's rather cloudy here today.

Well I'm back from my double blood test appointment and have just enjoyed my second delicious cup of tea in the last 10 minutes.    The water in our area is very hard.  I like Yorkshire tea the best but I'll drink almost anything really, although I only drink decaffenated tea and coffee.

As I had time to kill in between appointments; it's just not worthwhile driving all the way back home and out again, I decided to visit a local shop and purchase a pattern and some wool to make myself a cardigan whilst I'm in hospital.  I've not done any knitting for years but thought it might help to pass the time and there is only so much reading or crosswords you can do at any one time.  It will be interesting to see how I get on!! 

Glad you've been able to have a cuppa, Joyron.

Good idea about the knitting. I haven't done any for years but I have been thinking about starting again.

I'm glad that bit is over with now I haven't done any knitting (or crochet) for years.  The price of the yarn soared and it was just beyond my budget, its a good idea to pass the time in hospital though.  What are you going to knit?  I preferred crochet I think as I was so slow at knitting that I bored myself.

On the tea topic, I generally have M&S Luxury Gold teabags which I think may be what you've bought, squiggle

I also have their organic green tea with lemon infusion. Although I don't normally have sugar in tea or coffee, the green tea can be quite powerful, so I add some liquid honey to it which makes it very pleasant. They also have plain green tea and green tea with jasmine, but I think the lemon one is the nicest.

Here, the water is hard.

Good evening everyone.    Squiggle, I'm going to knit a longer length cardigan in a neutral colour which I hope (IF I ever finish it) will keep me warm during those cooler evenings in the summer.

My mother-in-law (who lived with us for many years before she, sadly, had to move into a nursing home) was very good at both knitting and crochet.  I have never been able to master that art I'm afraid but I used to watch her and marvel at how quickly she worked.

I was actually surprised that the wool was not dearer.  If I had gone for the brand name which went with the pattern then it would have cost a lot more but the very friendly, helpful lady in the shop said that any of the double knits would do the same job, so I chose one which was half the price!!

Sad to say but I couldn't resist getting myself started this afternoon.  It was a real trip down memory lane and I haven't lost my touch, thank goodness. 

Don't knit too fast Joyron, or you'll have finished it before you get into hospital.

I won't do that Yogi because I've just realised why I stopped before.  I get pain in my left thumb when I'm holding the needles!!  Don't tell I will need another operation to sort that out too. 

Oh no.

Maybe you'll be okay if you only knit for short periods at a time.

Yes EL that's what I bought and I tell you the Twinings ones I have bought today don't compare, I think I will be sticking with the M & S ones, they are great, and as you live in a hard water area and I in a soft water area the fact that they taste great in both areas is pretty good.

That's what I'm planning Yogi. 

These tea bags sound good.  Do you konw if they make a decaffenated version?? 

Squiggle, the BBC have announced there will be a second series of Silk.

They do sell decaf teabags, but not in the Luxury Gold line.

That's a pity Yogi.  Not sure if you realised but your post was number 6666!!!

Joyron, as Yogi says, M&S does sell decaf teabags. But I did buy a box of them, tried one or two, then gave them away as I did not like the taste at all. The person I gave them found them OK though.

Yogi, congratulations on post 6666

I've just checked back and on 29 June last year at 11.14 you made post 666 , but I'm not sure that congratulations are in order for that one

No. 6 seems to be following me around, so I'll make sure it's on this weeks lottery ticket.

Oh good, good quality drama is thin on the ground nowadays

It certainly is. They have cancelled most of the series I watched.

And do you know what I hate?  I am following Love Thy Neighbour, about a house to win in a Yorkshire village and the villagers choosing their new neighbours, its a really good interesting programme and they keep mucking about with the schedule, some weeks its on some weeks its not

I get ratty when they chop and change the schedule.

Good morning everyone

Overnight there's been quite a lot of rain. It's still cloudy and a bit drizzly, but it's supposed to get sunnier later.

I'm glad Silk is returning for a second series - I recorded the last episode and haven't seen that yet so don't know what happened.

Good morning everyone. It's pouring with rain up here.

Enjoy the last episode of Silk, El - it's a good one.

I'm off to the dentist this morning for a check-up. I think I have a filling which might need topped up.

Good luck at the dentist Yogi

From me too Yogi we all hate the dentist but we know we have to go. Talking of dentists you know that Neil McLaren guy who was a dentist in North Devon and faked his own death.  He changed his name to Neil McLaren and moved to Scotland, he had massive debts and loads of life insurance policies.  Well he was my dentist and he was rubbish.

I have taped Silk too, will probably watch it on Saturday, have a good day, I'm off to the Post Office soon as I have a new book swap, and its ever so windy here.

squiggle, I've just been reading about your dentist here

That is some story - I wouldn't be surprised if someone makes it into a film.

Ooooh, he was a very dodgy dentist, Squiggle.

Thankfully, my dentist isn't like that (I don't think!), and I only needed a scale and polish - YAY!

Yogi, that's a relief - no filling

You may recall I posted some days ago that the son of the client who had died was coming to see me re a new business. He came to see me this morning.

He had come to see me under false pretences, and he is lucky he was someone I had known for years, otherwise I would have told him to get lost and shown him the door. To be fair to him, he did apologise.

He had brought along anoher man who he described as his mentor. Hmmm, I thought to myself, what is going on here . I asked if they wanted coffee which they did, so I went to get them drinks and to calm down before they started. I asked the mentor in what capacity he was attending and he said that he had been doing this work for some time, so was acting as a mentor. The man who I knew then started talking about why he had come - it was nothing to do with me being his accountant - he and his mentor had come to sell their business idea to me to become another member of their club and to get my clients and people I know to buy things and services from the club. It was one of these discount clubs - they were here on a selling visit.

I made it quite clear from the outset that I was not going to join their club as I always maintain neutrality dealing with my clients. If I am dealing with a client I do not want to be seen that I am touting for business unrelated to that of an accountant. The club arranges to get customers the lowest tariff on energy and on telecoms, and also provides a card where customers can get discounts from specified shops (which admittedly are the major players).

It's probably legit, and could save money, but I'm not biting. I steered them away from their sales pitch to what I thought he was there for. How the tax system works, what he needed to do with informing the Revenue, and generally the things I go through with any new client. Also gave him literature to read and links to useful information for businesses on the internet.

I also gave him a small number of business cards, and the mentor also took a card (as he does his own tax and doesn't have an accountant). So who knows, maybe I'll get the mentor as a client in due course. It would be rather ironic if having failed to sell their product to me, I get him as a client as well.

I am glad all went well at the dentist Yogi.  With my dodgy dentist it is all over the local paper and it is looking increasingly likely that he obtained a false certificate and may not have been qualified to practice at all.

You steered a very wise course there EL and as you say it would somewhat ironic if that guy comes to you for his accountancy work in the future